Mass Effect Immersion
by Bigbear1992
Summary: Bored of the mass effect story after going through so many times, a young man decided download a mod to make it new again. Pulled from his old life and experimented on, he must make a new life, in a universe that could be doomed.
1. Chapter 1 New Game

Chapter 1: A new game

"Did that all really happen?"

"Yes but some of the details have been lost to time, it all happened so very long-"

I didn't give the scene a chance to end, pausing and exiting the game. I had beaten Mass effect, going through the whole series from game one to end, for what felt like the hundredth time. It is a great game series, you'll get no argument from me, I wish there was something new, some way to make it fresh again.

After a while it kind of gets boring you know? There's only so many different option combinations you can make before you've seen it all.

Sighing at that thought, I opened steam up to pick a new game, something else to ease the boredom I was feeling. I might just torture myself, play some dark souls? At least I haven't beat those games too often, they're too damn hard for that.

Before I could pick it out of my game library, I got a notification.

Odd.

Somebody commented on my profile, but I don't have any friends on steam and I don't review anything. Why would someone do that?

I clicked the tab and brought up the message.

D3U5X - [You seem to like Mass Effect a lot, tell me, have you gotten bored with the story yet? I mean by now you must have the whole thing memorized, right?]

As I read the message I could help but get a strange vibe about this guy. I mean, who goes around messaging random people to ask people if they're bored? I was bored though, so I figured I'd answer him, it'll be an interesting conversation

g0dslayer - [Pretty much, a few side quests that I'm a bit foggy on how they progress but otherwise I know it all. Even read some of the books and watched paragon lost]

D3U5X - [I thought as much, with the hours you have logged, you'd have to be a major fan of the series. Tell me, what would you say if I told you there was a way to add a new element to the game?]

g0dslayer - [?]

D3U5X - [There's a mod for mass effect called Immersion, it adds a new person to the story. They become an actual part of the universe, and have an impact on the events! New dialog, different endings, it changes everything!]

g0dslayer - [That sounds cool, but wouldn't it mess with the game? I mean what you're talking about is a big change, it might crash it]

D3U5X – [It won't, give it a try, and I promise it will change how you see mass effect.]

A link popped up and I stared at it for a few minutes. I'm not dumb enough to trust some random person who messages me out of the blue. It could be some asshole trying to hack my computer and there was no way I would let my only source for entertainment go down.

But… I couldn't help but wonder, what if it's not a scam? What if it will actually do what he says, change things. What if it makes the game new again?

Thinking to myself I must be crazy, I clicked the link and started the download. It only took a few minutes and it was done. A prompt came up before I could open the folder saying it was installed and ready for use, do I want to open mass effect.

Not wasting anytime I brought up mass effect 1 and started what I hoped would be a brand new experience.

Nothing seemed different at first, at least not until I selected start new career. The screen changed orange, displaying something called the Hercules project database.

[Accessing…..]

[Accessing…..]

[Subject 10 profile corrupted. Please renter subject information.]

It looked like some sort of medical form, asking things like height, age, eye and hair color. I was lost for a second till I saw a flashing box in the corner.

[Use webcam?]

Huh, I guess it makes the character based off of your own physical look. A bit odd but whatever, I'm sure I can customize the look after. I clicked it and pointed the webcam at my head, waiting for it to do whatever it was supposed to do.

All of a sudden the form was filled with info, and it was mine! Height, age, it even guessed my weight right, this was getting creepy! It changed to a view of the avatar and it looked like me! Brown hair, blue eyes, a bit on the lanky side, it was like looking at photo. He was even wearing the same clothes.

Before I could do anything else the screen changed to what looked like a relay jump. The screen began pulsing, over and over, growing brighter and faster by the second. The screen flashed a brilliant blue that blanketed the room in its glow, blinding me at the same time. That's when I felt the world fall away, dropping me into an abyss of light.

I fell for what felt like hours, nothing but blue light all around me, pulsing every now and then. Was I dreaming? Was I dead?

Before I could put more thought into it the weightless feeling disappeared, and I dropped.

Hard.

I kept my eyes shut and grit my teeth, trying not to yell out from the pain of the drop. As it started fading I opened my eyes, taking in my surroundings. I was in some sort of storage room , metal crates around me, and there were no windows. At the end was a door with some sort of pad next to it.

As I stood up the door opened, and two people in white and yellow armor walked in talking to each other.

"-id you see the last failure, almost makes you feel sorry for the- HEY, how did you get in here?" The one on the left said, catching site of me and grabbing a blue rod from his waist.

The other one did the same and they came towards me, their weapons surging with energy.

"Come quietly, or we will use the stun rods." The second one said. "We have to get you back to your holding cell, with the others."

I backed away, scared and confused, who were these people?

"I-I haven't done anything, please, hold on sec!" I say, growing more terrified with each step they took.

They stopped and looked at each other for a moment, before looking back to me.

"We know" one said, before they both thrust their arms forwards.

My body was in agony as soon as they made contact, and the world went dark soon after.


	2. Chapter 2 Rebirth

Chapter two: Rebirth

Slowly waking up I felt stiff, my body ached all over, but when I tried to move, I couldn't. My eyes shot open as I remembered what happened.

Frantically I began looking around to see where I was and what was going on. I was strapped down to a table with metal restraints, in what looked like a futuristic medical room.

The room itself was large with white metal walls. High-tech equipment spread throughout the parts of the room I could see.

A bright light hung above the table, blinding me whenever I glanced up. A mechanical whooshing sound and footsteps filled the silence of the room.

A man walked into view, pulling up a chair next to me. He was older, with curly, short white hair and some stubble on his chin. He brought his arm forward and a hologram seemed to materialize over it.

Wait.

That's an omni tool!

That's something bioware came up with, that can't be real!

He waved it over me once and then brought it back, reviewing the readout while muttering to himself. He nodded then looked at me and smiled.

"It seems like you're in good shape, all things considered, now my name is Doctor Carter." He said with a warm smile.

"Where am I?" I asked, calming down a bit, he reminded me of my grandpa.

"This Hercules station, birthplace of project Hercules, and that's all you need to know subject ten" he replied sending a chill down my spine.

"But my name is R-"

"Your name doesn't matter anymore. You belong to us now, and there is no way off this station." He said as he began typing something on his omni tool.

"You will either be my greatest scientific achievement or a failure to be discarded with the rest of the trash" he declared.

"Now," he said as he finished his typing, "let's get you fitted so that we can begin!"

He reached under the table, pulling out a strange looking collar, grey in color with a blue strip around it.

I struggled to get free as he opened it and brought it closer to me. He simply grabbed my head to keep me still and clamped it around my neck.

I was about to ask what the hell it does when I was shocked, electricity coursing through my body. It was agonizing, every nerve in my body was screaming in pain as I thrashed around in my restraints. When it finally ended I panting for breath, having screamed the entire time.

"Good to see the collar works, if a tad low, that should have knocked you out," he muttered to himself.

"Oh well now you know what happens if you talk back, if try to escape or if fail a test set up for you." He said looking over his omni tool, before scratching his chin in thought.

"Actually some of the guards might use it because they're bored now that I think about it, no matter." He said before getting up, grabbing some sort of syringe from a nearby machine.

"You won't be awake for most of the process, so cheer up, if all goes according to plan you'll be reborn as the perfect soldier!" he declared as the needle pierced my skin, emptying its contents into my vein.

My eyes grew heavy and all sensation began to leave me and the world faded away.

I don't know how long out, but when I came to, I floating in a pod filled with blue liquid, a breathing mask over my face. My body ached, almost like growing pains, but much worse.

Looking out the glass door I saw a bunch of people walking around the room and talking to each other? It was hard to tell, details blurred by grogginess and my current cell. One seemed to take an interest in me, motioning to one of the others before walking towards the glass.

"-eeding any past attempts at this, his dna contains a rare sequence that allows successful modification." I heard one of them say as they stood in front of the door.

"How has the skeletal reinforcement progressed so far?" the other asked.

"Slow going but it has shown promise, his body hasn't shown any sign of rejection."

"The muscle reinforcement?" the second asked.

"Progressing about the same" The first scientist replied, looking at his clipboard, or was that a datapad?

"It's good to see you've woken up subject ten, you've got a busy schedule to keep, are you prepared?" the second replied, and finally I snapped wide awake.

That was Carter!

I began pounding on the glass, startling the other scientists in the room, but not Carter. He stood there typing away at something.

My blood boiled, rage taking over my mind as I began to strike the glass with more and more force. Just when I thought it was pointless, a crack appeared in glass.

encouraged by that sight I kept at it, the crack widening with every strike I landed on it. Without warning my whole locked up as a surge of electricity went through me.

"Now subject ten, did you forget about the collar already." Carter said in a condescending tone.

"That was a good show, though, I didn't think your strength had grown so fast." He continued, looking over something.

"Now, we have tests to get to, aren't you excited?" he said with glee.

From then on, my life spiraled down into a nightmare that I couldn't wake from. I do whatever tests they deem necessary then they put me under again to poke and prod at me. They punish me for the slightest mistake by using the collar. Adding to the agony my body is already in from the unnatural changes forced upon it.

Weeks or months, I don't know how long I've been their guinea pig, all I know is I'm starting to lose hope. Every time I wake up to another piece of me torn away, replaced by whatever they decide is more efficient. I don't even know how much of my body is mine anymore or how much more they plan on taking from me.

I'm not sure how much more I can take before I lose my mind, if I haven't lost it already.

When I woke up this time, I was wearing full armor, pure white, and it looked like the style they called heavy armor in game. I had no way of looking at the helmet I was wearing, all I could see was the HUD that showed me a readout of my vitals.

Before I could get my bearings and try anything, my body froze in place. Try as I might I couldn't move, it was like someone pressed pause on me.

"Well subject ten, I'd say the nano machines we put inside you work quite well don't they?"

CARTER!

"They were tricky to make, you see they track your vitals, speed up healing, and keep you in peak physical condition, with them you need very little sleep, poisons, germs and virus's that would kill most men will be broken down before you can even get a sniffle, you will be the ultimate soldier!" he prattled on, stroking his own ego. .

If I could just move, I would be able to end this monsters life in a moment.

"It was tricky to get them to work how we wanted though" he continued. "Couldn't risk sending you out without some way to stop you if needed and it had to be secure to prevent hacking."

He finally entered my field of vision, a smug smile on his face as he looked me over.

"I was able to come up device that put them completely under my control and there's no way to replicate it, isn't that fascinating?" he asked as he walked away from me.

"Now I'm going to release you in a moment, and then you will sit down in this chair here and my assistants will run you for the next phase, if you don't, I can send an electric current through the the nano machines until you comply." He gestured to a strange chair. It had clamps on the arms and instead of a headrest it had a crescent shaped device raised above it.

With no other choice I did as he said, sitting down in the chair and allowing myself to be clamped in.

"Doctor, why does he have armor on?" I overheard an assistant asked Carter.

"As soon as the procedure finishes we begin combat trials" Carter replied irately.

"I don't want to waste any more time, this is my defining moment and I won't have it spoiled by delays." He replied before handing him a device.

"This is the controller, if anything goes wrong don't hesitate to use it, I have to start on the next subject." he stalked out of the room with his head held high, leaving me with his two assistants.

They placed the controller on a nearby counter as they set the machine up. They took my helmet when it was time to lower the device on my chair. It clamped onto the side of my head and I could feel it expanding, to hold me in place?

When they were finally done the activated the machine and that's when it all went to hell. As soon as it started up I cried out anguish, it was like it was clawing around in my mind, driving me to the brink of madness.

I struggled with all my might, trying my hardest to get away from the torture they were subjecting me to. Fate seemed to favor me finally, as when I pulled against my restraints, my right arm came free. It wasn't closed right!

The two men that were to be my jailers were frozen in horror the moment my arm came free. I ripped the device off my head to end my suffering, throwing it at one of the men when he went for the controller. It was a solid hit and he fell, while the other man ran from the room terrified .

Setting about freeing myself I got out of the chair and stumbled to the counter holding the controller. I tried to get my wits about me, my mind still muddled from the effects of the device. I tried to think, to figure out what was the point of it. As I shook of the effects, I looked at myself in the reflection of my helmet. It's been so long since I saw myse-

No.

No.

NO!

My mind was clear and with a growing sense of horror, I realized, that machine was meant to wipe my memories. My name, my family's faces, parts of my whole life, they were gone! I could remember bits and pieces of things, but the farther back I tried to think the more holes appeared!

"CARTER!" I bellowed with grief and rage, tears beginning to fall down my face. Looking once more at the helmet, I let rage take over once more.

I put the helmet on and grabbed the controller, crushing it with a quick squeeze of my hand.

He had tried to take my very soul from me.

Now I was going take his life.


	3. Chapter 3 Escape

Chapter 3 Escape

All I saw was red, my anger taking over and driving me towards one goal, to make every last one of these bastards pay. I walked through the door and was greeted by two security guards wielding stun batons.

The first one charged at me, baton raised to strike me. I grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the wall, hearing a wet snap as he impacted it. He slumped to the floor and the other guard yelled, pulling a gun from his side. I moved fast, grabbing his arm as he raised it to aim before pulling forward. I brought my knee up, breaking his arm and forcing him to drop the gun.

He fell to his knees, holding his now useless arm and screaming in pain.

*BANG*

I had picked up the gun and silenced him, this- this MONSTER who was helping these people. I looked the gun over for a second, but then I heard shouting from down the hall.

"The subject is over here." Someone shouted, making my blood boil.

I WAS A HUMAN, A PERSON. I wasn't just some lab rat to be poked and prodded until I die. I gripped the gun tightly and started walking forwards, intent on meeting them head on. I would show them, this lab rat was going to bite back!

The world turned into a blur of screaming, alarms, blood and explosions as I went through the facility. I went through every door in my search, killing anyone in my path and tearing apart every piece of equipment I could find. I wasn't going to rest till every last one of these bastards payed for their crimes.

As I rounded another corner a scientist exited from another door. He looked around franticly before he saw me and backed up a step. He screamed as I charged at him, letting out a feral roar as I picked him up and tossed him back into the room he came from. He rolled across the floor before hitting the wall, falling hard to the floor, unmoving. I walked forward, gun raised, intent on making sure he was down for good.

"Are you here to save us?" asked a small voice.

I stopped in my tracks when I heard that, frozen by the sound, one I didn't think I would hear in this hell.

A child's voice.

It snapped me out of my enraged haze, as I looked around the room, looking for the source. The room was a holding cell, keeping seven prisoners here. They looked to be of all different ages, from small children to teenagers, four boys and three girls. They were all scared, trembling inside of their cells, probably because of my armor.

I decided to take my helmet off to show them that I was alright, that they didn't have to be scared of me. Reaching up with my hand I gripped the edg- oh god.

Oh god, what have I done.

My hand I- it- it was covered in blood. I looked at myself, splattered in blood, and I finally realized it.

I killed people.

I killed so many people, all without a second thought, no mercy, just cold fury. I was ready to break down there when one of the children spoke again.

"Are you after the bad men?" asked a little boy, breaking me from my freak out.

I looked around once more, seeing the small ember of hope in their eyes and I knew, I couldn't do this now.

"I'm here to rescue you all." I said with as much determination I could muster.

I had to keep it together for now, I couldn't let them go through the hell I'd been put through. I walked over to the control panel, trying to figure out how to deactivate it. After fiddling with the controls a bit, the shield fell and the kids slowly came out.

They still wary of me at first, until a little girl ran to me and hugged my waist. I didn't want to get blood on her, so I just stood there, until she looked up at me with bright blue eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked.

I didn't know what to tell her, until bits of a memory flashed in my head. An old t.v show, I think, where a kid ends up taken against his will from his home and forced to grow into warrior. He started going by a new name afterwards.

"You can call me Matrix." I said after a moment.

A sudden groaning arose from behind me. The scientist waking up and groaning from where I had thrown him. Thinking fast I nudged the little girl so she would let me go, and walked over to the man. Before he knew what was happening I picked him up and slammed him on the wall.

"Where is the hanger?" I growled out, doing my best to be intimidating. Judging by his trembling, it worked.

"It's down the hall, last door on the left, across from Dr. Carters main lab." The man quickly said, starting to tear up in fear.

I squeezed hard at the mention of Carter, but loosened my grip when he began whimpering, no need to scare the others.

"One last question, do you know how many guards are left?" I asked, squeezing again, just to make him squirm.

"N-none, you took out the whole station, the last guard sent out the evacuation warning a few seconds before you killed him, it's just us and Dr. Carter." He stammered out.

I felt nauseous when he mention the killing, but I shoved it down for now.

"Thanks for your cooperation." I said before throwing him into the wall of one of the cells.

I activated the shields again, then I smashed the controls.

I turned to the kids, all of them seeming to have calmed down a bit, and weighed my options.

"Have any of you ever flown a shuttle?" I asked the three teenagers.

They looked to be somewhere between fifteen to eighteen and I hoped one of them had done it before.

"I can, my dad taught me." the oldest looking of the three said. He was tall, a bit on the lanky side, with black hair and brown skin.

"Good, you're going to be flying us out of here, what's your name?" I asked

"Kevin." He replied.

"Alright Kevin, get ready to be a hero, we're out of here!" I said as we walked towards the door.

"Wait, what about Laura?" one of the younger girls asked.

"Who's Laura?"

"She was brought here with the rest of us, she was taken away just before you arrived" Kevin explained.

I looked at them, their spark of hope still in their eyes growing brighter by the minute. I knew what I had to do, where the girl would be.

I had to pay Carter a visit.

"I'll get her, Kevin, take the others to the shuttle and get it ready for takeoff and if I'm not there in ten minutes, or if someone else comes there, leave." I said, getting a grim nod in return.

We walked down the hall, and when we got to the end, we could see the hanger through a large window. They took the hallway to the left, staying close together, as I turned right and walked towards the only door.

Carter was behind that door doing god knows what to an innocent little girl. I brought the gun up, other hand going to the control. Pressing it, the door opened and I rushed in, looking around the room for my target.

He wasn't hard to find, standing next to the same table I had been locked into when I arrived. A little girl with long blonde hair and emerald eyes, Laura, was in front of him, his hand on one shoulder, and a gun to her head.

"Drop the gun, or I will shoot this subject here." He said, grip tightening on his gun.

Gritting my teeth, I knew I had no choice, I let go of the gun, letting it clatter to the floor. Carter grinned, knowing he had me right where he wanted.

"I worked on this project for years you know, it's been my life's work, to create a new race of humans, ones that can stand up to any other alien in this universe and triumph." He said.

"We will be the top of the food chain, where we belong and history will forever remember me as the man that evolved our future, and no one will get in my way, especially not a rouge test subject." He continued his rant, anger slowly creeping into his voice.

"I am not a subject, I had a name, a life, but you took it from me you sick psychotic bastard, you aren't a visionary, your no scientist, you're just another crazy asshole who wants to play god, not caring how many people you hurt along the way and the only thing history will remember you as is a monster who destroyed lives for his own selfish reasons!" I said, seething in rage at the audacity of this man, trying to preach his dreams to the ones he trampled to try realize them.

Carter snapped, snarling with rage he let go of Laura and aimed at me, getting ready to fire. I took my chance and charged towards him, tackling him as he fired a few shots. As soon as we hit the ground I started throwing wild punches at anything I could, rage demanding I end his life.

But then, I heard Laura crying and once again I was broken out of my trance. Looking around, Carter was a bloody, barely conscious mess and Laura was hiding behind the table, eyes shut, ears covered, and crying.

I got up and slowly walked over to the little girl, sitting on my haunches so I could be at eye level with her.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, little miss, but I had to make sure he couldn't hurt you." I said to her softly to get here attention.

She sniffled a bit, and looked frightened, but I wasn't sure if it was because of me, or Carter.

"My name is Matrix," I continued, trying my best to calm her down, "your friends sent me to save you, they're waiting for us at the hanger, we can get out of this bad place, and get you home, sound like a plan?"

She looked at me for a moment and then nodded her head, wiping her eyes as she stood up. I picked up both guns and was surprised when she held her hand out for me to hold.

Taking her hand we walked towards the door, intent on getting out of here at last, until we heard shifting in the room. Carter was getting to his feet, holding his side, his bloody face glaring at me with a look of pure hatred.

"Don't think this is done, subject ten, I will get you for this, you and all those children will be back here once more, ready to bring my dreams to life." He snarled at me bringing up his omni tool.

I pulled a gun out and aimed at him, but I hesitated when I felt Laura squeeze my hand.

"Close your eyes little miss, I'll take care of this." I said quickly, getting a nod in response as she closed her eyes tight.

He ducked behind the table before I could I could shoot, so acting fast, I shot at a machine behind it, aiming for the canister it held inside it. My shot rang true, hitting the canister dead center, causing it to shoot out a stream of flames. Carter began to scream from behind his cover, rolling around on the ground, trying to put himself out.

I picked up Laura, leaving the room , I didn't want her to see that, it's bad enough that she heard it. As we walked down the hallway towards the hanger my body began to ache.

I guess the adrenaline I had been running on was finally wearing off. My breathing became ragged as we finally arrived, the shuttle prepared and the kids waiting inside.

I walked over, placing my charge on a seat in the spacecraft as I sat down in another. A wave of pain raced through me and I grabbed my abdomen, the center of my agony. I brought my hand back up, now coated in fresh blood, my own! Carter must have gotten me when I charged him.

I felt the shuttle take off and the world began to dim around me, my eyes becoming heavy.

As I drifted off, I couldn't help but smile, at least I saved the kids.


	4. Chapter 4 New Beginnings

A rhythmic beeping was the first sound I heard as I awoke, body sore and mind in a haze. I opened my eyes slowly, covering them once more when I was blinded by a bright light. I blinked a few times to adjust before I sat up and looked around. I was in a small medical room, just the one table I was lying on and some counters and equipment throughout the room.

Shaking my head to clear it, I caught sight of pile in the corner, red and white with a helmet on top of it. Looking over myself, I was naked from the waist up with some sort of bandage on my abdomen. That must be my armour from the-

My eyes widened when everything came back to me, the station, the escape, all of the people I killed. I could see their faces and- dear god! I could remember their screams!

I leaned over the bed and puked, the memories from those moments haunting me. When I had nothing left to hurl I pulled my knees close, shivering as I hung my head and tried to banish the past.

I don't know how long I was like that, but I was startled out of it when the door opened. I thought I was ready for anything, but the Asari woman who stepped in surprised me. She was focused on her omni tool, but looked up at me when she heard me moving. I was confused. Where was I now? Somewhere safe or another lab of some sort? I started to panic the more I thought about it, how often messed up shit like this happened in this universe.

Before I could do anything, I found myself feeling weightless. A blue aura surrounded me lifting me into the air.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," she said in a soothing voice, arms raised as her biotics flared around her.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where are the kids? If you hurt them I'll-"

"The children are safe young one. They're waiting for you to get better with my bondmate in the other room." She cut me off as she lowered me to the ground, field still in place around me.

"I am Xethia Gailen. We found your shuttle when the children sent out a distress signal and brought you aboard our ship." She finally let me go, approaching me cautiously.

I backed away when she got close, making her stop and hold her hands out in a placating manner. We stared each other down for a few moments. I didn't want to get caught in another biotic field and I don't think she wanted to risk setting me off. The tension in the room was dropped when the door opened once more, a Turian entering the room laughing heartily.

"Hey Xeth, are you almost done? The little ones want to go flying agai- Oh." He stopped midway through, noticing the situation. Sparing a quick glance at Xethia, he turned his attention to me before stepping forward in a calm manner. He stopped just within arms reach, studying my face for a moment before holding his hand out.

"My name is Caelus and I just want to commend you. It took a lot of guts to do what you did, especially after what those monsters did to you," he said, looking me in the eye.

"I don't know what you're talkin-"

"You don't have to pretend. When we brought you here we did a full medical scan on your body to check for any other injuries. The results and the story the kids told us gave it away." Caelus left no room for argument in his tone.

I tried to talk, to refute his claims, but I couldn't find my voice. Flashes of the experiments went through my mind in a horribly perfect clarity. I was shaken out of my thoughts when I felt an arm on my shoulder, Xethia with a concerned visage.

"It's alright. You don't have to keep the strong face. You're safe here," she told me, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

I just couldn't take anymore. Falling to my knees, tears leaking out unbidden as Xethia pulled me into a comforting embrace. I wept for long time: for the lives I took, the pain I went through, and for all that they stole from me. The whole time Xethia just held me, whispering that it was alright. That I was safe now.

When I finally ran out of tears I felt numb, finally realizing just how alone in this reality I was. I had no one. Everyone I had cared about, everyone that had ever held any significance to me, was gone forever. Both in body and spirit. Ripped from me by monsters that wanted a weapon.

"What's your name?" Caelus asked me.

"Matrix," I stated without thinking.

"I know that's what you told the kids, but what's your real name?" he asked once more.

"I don't have one anymore."

"What do you mean you don't have one?" Xethia asked.

"They took it," I replied in a flat tone.

"They- took it?" Caelus was incredulous at my answer.

"They tried to- they tried to erase my memory," I told them, hearing Xethia gasp and Caelus curse under his breath.

We sat there in silence. I was lost to my own thoughts, trying to figure out just what now. I was all alone, my body twisted against my will and my past all but erased. Hell, I didn't even exist in this universe, did I?

Before I could delve deeper into my despair, I was brought out of my musings when I heard my new name called.

"Um, did you say something?" I asked.

"I asked if you wanted to see the children. They have been worried about you, and it would make them feel better to know that you're awake now," Xethia said with a small smile on her face.

"They have been asking how you've been doing a lot. It's getting a little annoying," Caelus muttered, arms crossed and looking away. I considered it for a few moments, trying to decide just what I should do here, before coming to my decision.

"I'll go see them, but I'm going as Matrix the mercenary. They don't need to know who I really am. It will just scare them more." I gazed to the armour in the corner before continuing, "I lost a lot of my memory, but I do know I have nothing left to go back to. My family is gone."

I got up and walked to over to my armour, grabbing the helmet and staring at it, looking at my own reflection in the visor. With a sigh I turned it away and put it on, leaving the rest of the armour where it lay for now.

"I'm ready" I said, turning to them. They gave me a nod and we left.

As we made our way towards the cargo hold the kids were in, they got me up to speed on what I had missed. They were on their way to The Citadel when they picked up our shuttle a day ago, so they decided to keep going once they had us. They sent word ahead to get in touch with the human ambassador to figure out what to do with the children. When I asked why they were going to The Citadel, Xethia told me they were retiring from mercenary work themselves and thought that would be a good place to go. Caelus had a brother who ran a bar there that wanted to give it up, so he planned on taking it of his hands for him.

Our conversation stopped when the doors to the hold opened, the kids either sitting around or playing. When they noticed me there the younger ones almost tackled me, hugging me tight and telling me how glad they were I was alright. The teenagers themselves all seemed to have smiles on their faces, just letting the little kids have their moment before coming over to thank me. For the first time since I woke up I felt happy, like things might just be ok.

I still don't know what the future holds me, or if I'll ever get back. But for now, I think I can relax and worry about it later.


End file.
